Railroad weed-burning device.



PATENTED SEPT. A26, 1905. W. W.VLAMB & F. G. GLUETT.

RAILROAD WBED BURNING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 24,1904.

HEET 1.

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No. 800,454. PATENTED SEPT. 26, 1905. W. W. LAMB a E'. G. CLUETT.RAILROAD WEED BURNING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED OGT. 24, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILERT IV. LAMB, OF SOUTH SIOUX CITY, NEBRASKA, AND FRANCIS G. CLUETT,OF SIOUX CITY, IOWA.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 26, 1905.

Application filed October 24, 1904. Serial No. 229,826.

To {LZ 107mm/ 'it '1n/(ty concern:

Be it known that we, WILBERT W. LAMB, residing in South Sioux City, inthe county of Dakota and State of Nebraska, and FRANCIS G. CLUETT,residing at Sioux City, in the county of INoodbury and State of Iowa,citizens of the United States, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Railroad Weed- Burning Devices, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to a railroad weedburning device; and the ob]-ect of the invention is to provide an effective appliance of thischaracter which can be quickly moved along a raih'oad-track in order toburn the weeds therealong and which when necessity occasions can bereadily moved from off said track and onto a branch or auxiliary track,for example, to get the apparatus out of the way of an approachingtrain.

The weed-burning means, as will hereinafter appear, involves a pluralityof Bunsen burners so mounted that they can be readily raised or loweredto regulate their distance from the road-bed, such burners being adaptedto effectively destroy weeds and without the possibility of injuring theties.

The device includes in its organization a car or vehicle carrying amotor of some suitable kind whereby the same may be operated, and weprovide means whereby the car with its appurtenances can be readily andquickly lifted from a track and swung around at any angle thereto to berun onto a branch or auxiliary track ordinarily simply temporarily laid.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specificationw'e illustrate lclearly one simple and convenient adaptation of theinvention which will be fully set forth in the following description;but we do not limit ourselves to the showing thus made, for certainvariations may be adopted within the scope of our claim succeeding saiddescription.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railroadweed-burning device involving our invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan viewof the same.

Like characters refer to like parts throughout the different views.

The different parts of the apparatus are mounted upon a suitable car orvehicle, as 5, which car or vehicle, as will hereinafter appear, isself-propulsive, it carrying a motor of some suitable kind to furnishthe necessary driving power. R We have not deemed it necessary to showany of the common means for reversing the motion of the car, for thesame may be of any desirable character. The motor illustrated fordriving the car 5 is designated by 6 and is a steam-engine, it receivingits necessary supply of steam from a boiler 7 of some desirable kindmounted on the deck or platform of the car and the fuel to supply thefurnace of which may be carried in'a covered box, as 8, also on saiddeck or platform. The motor or engine 6 is represented as operativelyconnected with the rear axle of the car, and for this purposesprocket-gearing (denoted in a general way by 9) is illustrated. Aspreviously indicated, we do not represent any means for effecting thereversal of the motion of the car, as this is a common feature in therailroad art.

The weed-burning means per se is supported upon a frame of some suitablekind, the one represented including in its makeup the parallel side barsor beams, as 10, pivoted at their inner ends to the forward portion ofthe car, said side bars or beams being arranged to be swung `upward anddownward through the intervention of manually-controlled means, as willhereinafter appear. The arallel side bars or beams 10 are united by t esupply-pipe 11, from which the tubes 12 extend oppositely, said tubesbeing connected at their outer ends with Bunsen burners, as 13, eachhaving a valve. The burners 13, of which, it will be understood, thereare two rows, each row comprising a multiplicity, are located atopposite sides of the supply-pipe 11. Above the supply-pipe 11, which,it will be understood, sup lies the necessary hydrocarbon or other fluidto the burners, are what we term feedpipes 14 of oval form, connectedtogether at their inner ends and each at its opposite ends to thesupply-pipe 11. To the connection between the two feed-pipes 14 areconnected the pipes 15, which extend from the feedtank 16, suitablymounted upon the deck or platform of the car-for example, at the rearend thereof. Each of the pipes 15 involves in its make-up a swivel-jointor portion 17 whereby by reason of the flexible portions of the pipesthe forward portions thereof can be freely raised and lowered with theBunsen-burner frame. Each of the pipes IOO 15 is provided with ahandevalve 18, by which the supply of the hydrocarbon or equivalentfluid to the two series of burners 13 can be regulated, The fluid to besupplied to the Bunsen burners to provide the necessary flame throughoutmay be of any desirable kind. lVe have found gasolene well adapted forsuch purpose.

Mounted upon the forward portion of the Bunsen-burner frame andconnected thereto in any desirable manner is a hood or shield 19 ofarched or segmental form and which extends over the two rows of burnersin order to confine the heat generated by said burners within the areawhere it is most required. The hood or shield also serves as a guard toprotect the attendants.

From the forward portion of the deck or platform of the car the paralleluprights 2O rise, the same being suitably strengthened bydiagonally-disposed braces, as 21, and serving as a support at theirupper ends for the roller 22, over whichrthe branches of thehoisting-cable 23 run. The inner ortion of the cable 23 is connectedwith ant is adapted to be wound on the drum or roll 24, the shaft ofwhich is supported by suitable bearings on the upper side of theplatform of the car, while the outer portion of the cable is connectedwith rods, as 25, connected at their outer ends with the supply-pipe 11.lt will therefore be apparent that when the drum or roll 24 is turned inone direction the cable or rope 23 will be wound thereon to elevate thetwo rows of Bunsen burners 13, while when the roll is turned in theopposite direction the cable will be paid off in order to lower saidburners. The distance of the burnersvfrom the track can be therebyreadily regulated and in an easy simple manner. Extending from the rods25 to the uprights 20 are safety-cables 26, which prevent the burnersfrom dropping onto the ground should they be accidentally released bythe hoisting mechanism.

Fulcrumed on the shaft of the drum or roll 24 is the lower end of ahand-lever 27, while said shaft fixedly carries a ratchet 28, with whichthe pawl 29, pivoted on the lever 27, is adapted to cooperate. On thehand-lever are the customary devices for effecting the elevation orlowering of the pawl 29 out of or into contact with the teeth of theratchet 28, whereby the latter can be operated to effect the wind'ing orrelease of the hoistingcable 23.

The car suitably supports a tank 3() for containing water to supply theboiler 7 by way of the piping 31.

On the car is an air-pump 32, adapted to be operated by steam from theboiler, the two parts being connected by piping, as 33, for suchpurpose. The primary function of the air-pump 32 is to supply air to thehydrocarboirtank 16, ainsupply piping, as 34,

leading from the said pump to said tank. Under the car is arranged anair-tank 35, also connected with the air-pump by means of piping, as 36,the air tank or cylinder 35 being adapted to contain an amount of airnecessary to operate the braking mechanism, which may be of the usualkind, of the car. All the pipes are provided with valves of somesuitable kind by which the flow of the necessary fluid therethrough canbe controlled. The hydrocarbon-tank 16 is equipped with a gage of somesuitable kind, as 37, serving its customary function.

Upon the supply of gasolene or equivalent Huid to the burners 13 thegasolene or equivalent fluid will be ignited and by the meanshereinbefore described will be adjusted the proper distance from theroad-bed, following which the car by its own power will be run along thetrack in order that the heat from the burners can be utilized forconsuming the weeds and other similar growths.

As previously indicated, the car and its appurtenances are adapted. tobe bodily lifted from the track and to be swung at any desired anglethereto in order to run the same onto a temporary track to get such carand its appurtenances out of the way of approaching trains, and we willnow describe the means illustrated for securing this result.

Bolted or otherwise suitably fastened to the upper side of the deck ofthe car is a fixed nut 38, through which the jack-screw 39 passes, saidscrew serving as a means for raising and lowering the car, as well as apivot upon which the same can turn. Swiveled in some desirable way tothe upper end of the said jack or feed screw 39 is a handlever 40,carrying a pawl 41, adapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet 42, rigidlyconnected with the top of the said screw. The hand-lever andpawland-ratchet means therefore serve as a means for rotating the saidscrew whereby the car can be raised or lowered. The screw has a base, as43, of some suitable kind. The base is shown as consisting of aspider-like part having four arms adapted to engage the track-rails orother suitable part. The arms of the spider have depending lugs, as 44,adapted to engage the outer sides of said track rails. Normally the base43 is situated above the rails and road-bed, so that the car 5 can bereadily propelled along the track without possibility of the basestriking the road-bed or obstructionsthereon. Vhen it becomes necessaryto remove the car from the main rails, the feed-screw is turned in sucha manner as to feed it downward and to carry the base 43 against therails, the feed being continued until the car or wheels thereof arelifted off said rails. When this is done, the car can be swung at anangle to the main rails and then lowered by the operation of thefeed-screw onto temporary rails and then IOO IIO

caused to travel along the latter either by hand or by its own power. Toreturn the car to the main rails, the procedure just outlined isreversed.

Wve do not of course limit ourselves to the parts constructed ashereinbefore described, for other and equivalent parts may besubstituted therefor within the scope of our claim.

We have termed the apparatus constituting the subject-matter of ourinvention a Railroad weed-burning device, as it has been foundparticularly advantageous in this connection. The title, however, isused for convenience, as the apparatus may be used in other connections.For example, it may be employed for drying the ground in ballparks orrace-tracks or for melting snow on street-car tracks or for thawing theground so that the same can more readily be eX- cavated. These are someof the uses to which the apparatus may be put.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is- The combinationof a wheeled car, bars having a vertical swinging connection with andextending outward beyond the car, a

supplypipe uniting the bars beyond the car,

unsen burners in communication with and at opposite sides of thesupply-pipe, feedpipes above and in communication with the supply-pipe,a tank on the car for containing hydrocarbon liquid, pipes leading fromthe tank to the feed-pipes, each having a forward portion swiveled tothe rear portion and arranged to swing up and down with said bars,uprights on the car, a roller supported between the uprights, aWindingdrum located below the roller, a cable arranged to be wound uponsaid drum and having outwardly-diverging branches, rods connecting thecable branches and the supply-pipe, safety-cables connected with therods and car for preventing the burners Jfrom dropping onto the ground,and means for rotating said drum.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

VVILBERT W. LAMB. FRANCIS G. CLUETT. l/Vitnesses:

J. E. LARsoN, S. P. MARSH.

